Iron American Indian Weathervane - how old?

Those were around in the 40's, if that is of any help. And I suspect, long before that!

Love those things! We had "Trot Dobbin."

 

Hi,
With the Indian being that thin, if it was old it would have rusted through by now.
greg

 

The indian looks to have been repainted at some point.

 

Nowwww don't rule out your friend's opinion quite yet. I have just finished scanning through enough Native American/Indian weather vanes that should last me a lifetime. Anyhow, I finallyyyy found one that's appears very very similar except for the nose, added tree, arrow tip. It appears to have the the same X/cross where the hand is holding the bow, man's stance, and bow ends. This one was auctioned on the Cowan's Auction site for $2,937.50!!!! Yes, that's right for nearly $3,000.00. You could have knocked me over with the same feather.

Here is the auction:
http://www.cowanauctions.com/auctions/item.aspx?ItemId=68061

In my browser I couldn't get the description to come down to read it all. Found this same weather vane on a quilting site. Seems it's pattern was used in old??? quilts with the description:

"According to the auction details, it is late 19th century, sheet iron, with traces of green paint and was originally mounted on the Red Men's Lodge in Tucson, Ohio. It stands 22" high x 18" wide."

http://karenquilt.blogspot.com/2011/12/indian-folk-art-image-on-quilt.html

Now I did find a few other weather vanes that were similar. The similarities were the X/cross shape where the hand is holding the bow, pouncing stance of the man and a little bit of the face profile.

Identical with the hand on bow, position, profile, and stance. This one definitely says a reproduction:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/43585161/indian-weathervane-decorative?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=copper weathervane&ref=sr_gallery_39

Not the profile on this one - love the description "locomotive ornamentation":
http://www.antiquesandfineart.com/dealers/enlarge.cfm?id=87&pid=11625

BTW, the title of this query interested me, "Native America Indian Weathervane." For the life of me I could not imagine early Native Americas needing a weathervane on top of their teepees! All this dim witted old broad could think of was Native America **made.** When I opened the query, surprise surprise a weathervane *of* a Native American.

--- Susan

 

IMHO, no part of the weather vane looks very old to me......maybe 1970's or 80's, and stuck on the barn to "age". Seems rather crudely done.....the ONLY part that looked like it might have age was the Arrow on the directional section....that's it. Sorry, but that's my take on it. Am in agreement with what Greg said as well. Susan, I love the vane from the Antiques & Fine Art site! And I do find it difficult to believe (although "seeing is believing") that Cowan's sold theirs for $3000.00!!! However, I just did a comparison only "side by side" of the two most similar .... here and Cowans....for perusal......

 

The electric welds say post-WWII to me.

Electric welding goes back much farther, but wasn't common.